You HAVE to Try THIS!

     Okay, you don't 'have to,' BUT I sincerely recommend you do, because this is a surprisingly simple but not easy "game changer."

    1) Become aware of your Mood or overall Attitude. 
    Unless you feel: Open & Curious to ANYTHING that might happen, Ready to Learn & Evolve, and Grateful to be Alive, then DROP YOUR BORING, DEADENING, SELF-DEFEATING MOOD. You've done shit mood & "ordinary unhappiness" (or worse) to death. It's time to LIVE!

     2) FRESH START EVERY MORNING!
    Anything, ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING can happen today! None of us have a clue how our day will go when we first open our eyes. YET, a pessimistic or anxious, or one of our other pet shit moods loves to rush in to pathologically distort our attitude for the whole day. This is our fear-based choice akin to people choosing to return to a familiar abusive home rather than 'risk' a new safe house. BE BRAVE! Admit you don't have a clue about the future, NOR can you micromanage the future. The best you can be is PRESENT: Not Knowing, Relaxed yet Alert & Energized, Ready to Learn & Evolve, and Grateful to be Alive. 

    3) PRESENCE
    This is relatively rare, YET simple, ordinary, AND feels joyful. Have you ever been somewhere with so many overwhelming noises that you can't think clearly? For most, the source of the overwhelming noises is our own "self-talk" - the ongoing dialogue from our small self. We, as individuals, "need" a "noisy ego" like we as a society, "need" a narcissistic dictator taking a wrecking ball to our world ie like we need a hole in the head. 95% of our self-talk is useless or harmful. We CAN ignore self-talk, and CAN direct our awareness ANYWHERE we choose. 
    CHOOSE Open Awareness! Open Awareness is a meditation practice that's also the ideal way to be 24/7. When we're not narrowly focused on a specific task such as cooking a meal, or driving, our awareness is wide open to & monitoring all of our sensory inputs, in the present moment. Unless we specifically choose to narrow our awareness down, we remain open, present. This is peaceful & joyful because it's so effortless & freeing - free from our infernal neurotic, fearful, anxious self-talk. TREAT yourself to this experience - even for a minute - to appreciate the miraculous peace. This peaceful 'liminal space' feels energized at the same time, a bit like a helicopter that has risen off the ground hovering, yet able to take off in any direction when it chooses to do so.

    This 'everyday miracle' is YOURS to enjoy, yours to LIVE. It's your birthright! You WILL kick yourself if you delay letting go of needlessly living in 'ordinary unhappiness' or worse.

    

small self vs Self

St. Michael Defeating Satan (c. 1633) by Guido Reni

     

Meditations: Structured & Unstructured

     “There are many types of meditation practices in various traditions and also outside of traditions. They generally fall into one of two categories: structured or unstructured time sitting in silence and being still.
     Structured practices include concentration practices, such as counting or focusing on the breath, reciting a mantra, or visualizing the guru, and they are used for gathering the scattered mind and developing the ability to focus the mind in one place. They are useful practices in that they initially show the seeker how very active the mind is. They will frustrate the seeker at first; he will be sure he is not doing the practices correctly because his thinking keeps interrupting his focus on the object of concentration.
     Over time, concentration practices do quiet the mind, and they have been shown to have benefits in reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and bringing moments of calm into a troubled life or a restless mind. If these are the goals, they are quite useful. If you are a seeker of the Truth that frees one from one’s ‘self,’ however, they may or may not lead to liberation, since the ‘meditator’ may continue to feel separate from the meditation.
     Unstructured meditation is an invitation to simply sit without attempting to control anything that arises. It is an invitation to be – to be the silence, not the one who is trying to be silent; to be the awareness, not the one who is trying to be aware. It is not about controlling experience or maintaining a certain state of consciousness. True meditation reveals what IS before any ‘state’ of consciousness. There can be moments where there is no thought, no ego, and no time. We are conscious, if even for a moment, of being what we ARE.
     This type of meditation occurs when consciousness sinks into the unknown, into the depths of silence, where there is no ‘meditator.’ It is a deep listening to silence. Whether thoughts appear or do not appear is not a concern. We are not efforting to maintain a ‘state,’ but rather coming to rest in our natural state. This form of meditation does not engage the ego, as do so many structured meditation techniques. Of course, in the beginning you will encounter the noise of your ‘narrator,’ but you are not engaged in battle with your thinking. In fact, as consciousness comes to rest in its home ground, we discover that thought cannot interrupt the awake silence we eventually discover is our true nature. It is just another phenomenon that comes and goes in the Heart of Awareness.
     This kind of meditation can render the ego more and more transparent, since we are no longer striving to make something happen. It is a beautiful opportunity to unhook from our digital and virtual worlds, from our goal-oriented minds, and simply rest as what we are. We begin to see that when we are not struggling against our thoughts or feelings, something knows how to realign itself with its true nature. In this type of meditation, we also come to connect with the deep well of silence and wisdom into which we can drop our most important existential questions. Into this depth of knowing, we can inquire: Who or what am I, really?”

       Dorothy Hunt. “Ending the Search. From Spiritual Ambition to the Heart of Awareness.” Sounds True, 2018.

Fogo Island, Newfoundland

Uncomplicated Meditation

     "Meditation is the art of being. Unfortunately, we turn it into the art of doing. We ask, What am I doing? I am meditating. Well, what is that? Well, I am trying to be. Sometimes we introduce too much unnecessary struggle or strife that does not need to be part of it. Meditation is the art of being still, to be, and you do not have to do anything to be – you are, and I am. Nothing is required for you to be. ‘I am’ requires nothing more, and there is no need to define beyond that. I am good, I am bad, I am right, I am wrong – those thoughts are part of life as well, but none of that defines being. The sheer act of existence, the sheer act of being and of consciousness, is its own miracle.

     The meditative mind is extraordinarily sensitive. As useful as thought is, too much makes the mind dull. It needs to be renewed primarily through silence. So take this day to make some room for listening to the quiet spaces inside. Do not make it a goal; just notice what you notice through listening and through being available to what is occurring in each moment of experience. If you do, your experience will take on transparency – it will not feel as heavy and solid, but will start to feel translucent and ephemeral, which allows even more depth. Listen and make room for the deeper dimensions of your being to arise into your consciousness. This is a way to authentically enter a place of meditation.”        Adyashanti. “The Most Important Thing. Discovering Truth at the Heart of Life.” Sounds True, 2019.  

     "True meditation has no direction or goal. It is pure wordless surrender, pure silent prayer. All methods aiming at achieving a certain state of mind are limited, impermanent, and conditioned. Fascination with states leads only to bondage and dependency. True meditation is abidance as primordial awareness.
     True meditation appears in consciousness spontaneously when awareness is not being manipulated or controlled. When you first start to meditate, you notice that attention is often being held captive by focus on some object: on thoughts, bodily sensations, emotions, memories, sounds, etc. This is because the mind is conditioned to focus and contract upon objects. Then the mind compulsively interprets and tries to control what it is aware of (the object) in a mechanical and distorted way. It begins to draw conclusions and make assumptions according to past conditioning.
     In true meditation all objects (thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories, etc.) are left to their natural functioning. This means that no effort should be made to focus on, manipulate, control, or suppress any object of awareness. In true meditation the emphasis is on being awareness; not on being aware of objects, but on resting as primordial awareness itself. Primordial awareness is the source in which all objects arise and subside.
     As you gently relax into awareness, into listening, the mind’s compulsive contraction around objects will fade. Silence of being will come more clearly into consciousness as a welcoming to rest and abide. An attitude of open receptivity, free of any goal or anticipation, will facilitate the presence of silence and stillness to be revealed as your natural condition.
     As you rest into stillness more profoundly, awareness becomes free of the mind’s compulsive control, contractions, and identifications. Awareness naturally returns to its non-state of absolute unmanifest potential, the silent abyss beyond all knowing.”
       Adyashanti "True Meditation Has No Direction." http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=960

Continuous Informal Mindfulness Practice

     How often are we in the middle of a project when an unrelated interruption derails our momentum? How do we handle such interruptions? Most likely, we experience some, or even a lot of irritation. Kind attention is unlikely! We do not appreciate disruptions.

     In mindfulness (MBSR) training, we start by learning concentration meditation. As we're zooming our attention in on the felt details of our 'anchor' eg the feel of the breath in our belly, how often is the momentum of our concentration disturbed by a wide range of completely irrelevant thoughts? Are we instructed to become irritated? No! Instead, we practice accepting irrelevant thoughts with self-compassion, then gently, kindly, patiently, with endless perseverance we seamlessly bring attention back to our object of awareness (the anchor).
     Later in mindfulness training, we learn open-awareness meditation ('just sitting'). We allow our thoughts to settle down with a few minutes of concentration meditation, then we practice just sitting by opening our awareness to the most prominent phenomenon in our perceptual field. We rest in awareness itself. When the sound of the clock dominates our perceptual field, we attend to this sound; when an ache in our lower back arises in our perception, we attend to that sensation; and so on. We pay complete attention to whatever arises.

     How can we apply what we learn in formal mindfulness meditation practice to the many interruptions, often by other people, in daily life? 
     First of all, it's useful to recall that we typically feel at least irritable if not outright anger after being interrupted. So we can feel compassion towards ourselves for feeling upset, because we are often busy, and do need to meet deadlines. But we can also feel compassion towards the person interrupting us, because they too are busy, and have their own deadlines to meet. We all work collaboratively. NOTE this is meant to decrease our own & others' suffering and elevate our own & others' quality of life, NOT in any way to encourage repeated inconsiderate behavior from others, nor to turn us into "doormats." We need to wisely use of all our intelligences.
     So what happens if, instead of becoming irritated & angry, we intentionally practice compassionate self-acceptance & acceptance of the person interrupting us, and paying complete attention to them? By complete attention, I don't only mean letting go of resentment, and attending to their request. Complete attention or presence means bringing our entire being - mind, emotions & body - to whatever we're doing. So we gently, kindly, patiently, with endless perseverance seamlessly attend to our colleague's request.
     AND AFTER we've completed this task to our mutual satisfaction, we seamlessly return complete attention to our original task. This is how we can markedly improve our own as well as our colleagues' quality of life, as well as our work efficiency. This is CONTINUOUS INFORMAL mindfulness practice. 

     Doesn't this apply equally to the many times we find ourselves doing tasks that must to be done, yet we judge meaningless or somehow beneath us eg washing & putting away dishes, taking out the garbage, doing the laundry, driving to work, etc, etc, etc?  
     We ALWAYS have the choice between carrying out with complete attention that which is most appropriate in the present moment - OR - doing it with an attitude that essentially sabotages not only our own & others' quality of life, but also the quality of the actual task. Compare how these two radically different attitudes of mind affect your moment-by-moment quality of life!

Thinking, Concepts & Zazen

     "In zazen, our practice is to let go of our fabricated mental map, to open the hand of thought, and thereby sit down on the ground of reality. Thinking can only produce a distorted mental copy of the world, and this copy is based on karmic experiences. 
     But when we let go of thought, we understand that the copy in our minds is not reality itself. Then we no longer have to blindly trust our thoughts and we can instead inquire further into the nature of reality. 
     Our zazen is not a method of correcting the distortion of our ‘conceptual maps.’ Instead we just let go of the map and sit down on the earth of reality."                           Shohaku Okumura

Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

Concentration & Awareness Meditation

     "We access the mind of calm abiding through recognition. What do we recognize? 
     Awareness: the ever-present knowing quality of mind, from which we are never separated for an instant. Even though normally we do not recognize awareness, we can no more live without it than we can live without breathing. For this reason, I often use the terms shamatha and awareness meditation interchangeably. Discovering our own awareness allows us to access the natural steadiness and clarity of the mind, which exist independent of conditions and circumstances, and independent of our emotions and moods."         Mingyur Rinpoche

     shamatha meditation - concentration or tranquility meditation to help stabilize the mind 
     awareness meditation - vipassana or insight meditation to see things clearly, as they are

Maddy's Chair

Work a Concentration Meditation; Retirement an Open Awareness Meditation?

     There are interresting parallels between the relatively narrow focus of working life and concentration forms of meditation; and then a broader opening up to life in general when one retires (or is on a retreat) and open awareness forms of meditation.
     If one can sense the totality of life as one living organism, and resonates with Valera's understanding http://www.johnlovas.com/2014/06/appropriate-behavior-health-depend-on.html that communication between all parts of this one massive Self is essential, then we can appreciate the relative tunnel vision of work-life to be potentially problematic. Also, after a lifetime of specialized work, when (if) people retire, they may well find it challenging to open their mind-hearts to the big picture.
     The capacity, indeed the seamless, effortless ease of connecting deeply & being congruent with LIFE is always, throughout life, critical, IF we are to perform our small, individual, specialized roles in harmony with the one orchestra.

Venice, Italy, June 2014

Introduction to Zen — A 4-week Course in Halifax, in May 2014

Introduction to Zen is a discussion-based course intended to give participants a foundation in Zen practice and guiding principles. 

Tuesday evenings in May, 7:30-9pm
(optional meditation from 7pm)
6218 Quinpool Rd. (upstairs)
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Suggested contribution: $40

Pre-register: nyohozen@yahoo.com

ALL ARE WELCOME.

zennovascotia.com

Timeless Process of Open-hearted Engagement

     The fundamental error we tend to make is rushing towards some desirable concentrated refined perfected essence - the perfect mate, the perfect job, the perfect holiday, the perfect meal, the perfect retirement .... 
     Mindfulness meditation practice is precisely the opposite or flip-side of this. We open to & embrace what is right here & now, with a timeless attitude. This is our life, on & off the cushion.

The Dream that must be Interpreted by Odilon Redon

Active Engagement with Life

     We're on a continuous evolutionary journey, individually and inextricably along with all living beings. Each fraction of a second is a reset, a brand new beginning, a rebirth of sorts. Open awareness, porousness, psychological flexibility, and love are basic requirements for consciously, actively, directly taking part.

     "As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves."     Huston Smith

        Vaughn F. The Inward Arc. Healing in Psychotherapy and Spirituality. iUniverse.com Inc, Lincoln NE, 1995, 2000. 

panheimer   www.dpreview.com

 

Sitting

sitting suspended
between earth and sky
between heart and all directions
expanding vertically
radiating warmth all around
listening to the silence
the ground of all things



     "A person is neither a thing nor a process, but an opening or a clearing through which the Absolute can manifest."                    Ken Wilber

Nik2   www.dpreview.com

Open Question - Koan

     To "rediscover the unity concealed in contradictions" ....


       Durckheim KG. “Hara – The vital center of man.” Inner Traditions, Rochester VT, 1975 

Paulah   www.dpreview.com

 

Samadhi OR Hypnotic trance?

     Many meditation teachers advise students to put serious effort into focusing attention on one object eg the breath, in order to stabilize awareness. Some Zen teachers state that one must achieve samadhi first before making any real progress in meditation practice. This forced mental effort goes hand-in-hand with forced physical effort, "breaking through barriers" of pain. Stable one-pointed awareness can indeed be achieved by some using this marine-style method. However, those who have some variant of attention-deficit disorder, and or low pain threshold, and all of us when we have a lot going on in our lives, are not marine material.

     Hallmarks of samadhi include the end of "self-talk" (the obvious loud stuff at least) and complete physical ease of sitting (for prolonged periods). Both of these are major reliefs, so there's subtle euphoria, and the tendency to think "I've got it!" - delusion!! It's a small, very early step, in a lifelong journey.

     What's not commonly appreciated, is that a self-induced hypnotic trance can easily be confused with samadhi. One can literally escape the prolonged mental and physical strain by going into a trance state. In trance, one feels "locked-in on target" (like a jet fighter's canon) on the focus of attention.

     In the samadhi one cultivates with open-awareness meditation (Vipassana, Zen etc), one should be able to slowly move physically, look around, etc and REMAIN in samadhi. If doing these things ends the state ("breaks the spell"), it was self-hypnosis - a good hypnotist can help get you there in 10 minutes.

     We are trying to wake up! Samadhi - fully conscious, awake and aware - is cultivated through dedicated skillful mindfulness practice that is unforced, but continuous throughout one's (initially) waking hours.

Photo from Insight Meditation Society's website: http://www.dharma.org/